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The Canadian province of British Columbia is considering new strategies to encourage the "most hard-to-reach" HIV-positive people to enter treatment, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports. The methods would target groups like drug users, the homeless and mentally ill and include payments and other incentives, such as drug recovery programs, addiction treatment, food and shelter.

Julio Montaner, head of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver and president of the International AIDS Society, said that by combining HIV/AIDS treatments with recovery programs, people who would not normally see a physician might be persuaded to access treatment. "People have an instinct for self-preservation," Montaner said, adding that some groups are more likely to seek solutions for immediate problems -- such as a lack of food and shelter or where to access drugs -- rather than focus on longer-term issues such as HIV/AIDS. "If we listen to them and we ask them, 'What will it take for you to do this (take HIV treatment),' they will tell you," he said, adding, "If we can get these people hooked on us instead of hooked on their dealers, we can work with them and try to make (HIV treatment) a priority." More >>